Media personnel film the NDP French language leadership debate in Montreal on Nov. 27, 2025. Yves Engler’s application to run for party leadership was rejected in December.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
Bianca Mugyenyi says she has applied to join the federal NDP leadership race after her husband, Yves Engler, was barred by the party’s vetting committee.
Ms. Mugyenyi, who helped co-ordinate Mr. Engler’s campaign, applied to join the race last week, just before the final deadline. She said she plans to run on the same socialist platform as he did, and wants his supporters to back her instead.
The NDP’s vetting committee rejected Mr. Engler’s application to run for the leadership, which will be decided at the party’s convention in March. Don Davies has been the party’s interim leader since May, 2025, replacing Jagmeet Singh, who resigned after the federal election in April.
Ms. Mugyenyi, who until last year headed a left-wing foreign-affairs think tank, criticized the NDP for blocking her husband and said she will stand aside if the party reverses its decision on his candidacy.
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In an interview, she said she wants NDP members to have the chance to consider her and her husband’s campaign ideas. These include cutting Canada’s defence budget and nationalizing the energy sector, with oil, gas and hydroelectric being run by a publicly owned authority.
Mr. Engler previously told The Globe and Mail that donors had contributed about $110,000 to his campaign and that he had spent a portion of it during his bid to join the leadership race.
He said in an e-mail that if his wife is approved to run, he plans to return the money donated to his campaign while suggesting that his donors give that money through the NDP portal to his wife’s campaign.
“Since our donors/activists have been so solid in their backing of campaign we are confident almost everyone will do it (in fact they’ll even boost their sum),” he wrote. “Additionally, we’ll raise the other $30 000 or so we need to get Bianca formally on the ballot. At that point people will be able to get tax credits and we will have access to large NDP membership list to fundraise.”
Approved candidates have access to the party’s membership list, which includes current and former MPs, along with their contact information.
Candidates must pay $100,000 to participate in the leadership race and, according to the NDP, will have to pay the final $25,000 instalment by the end of January to appear on the ballot.
Yves Engler speaks to supporters at the Montreal courthouse on Nov. 28, 2025.Andrej Ivanov/The Globe and Mail
The NDP has previously raised concerns that Mr. Engler raised money for his leadership campaign before submitting his application as a candidate.
Aaron Zerfas, an NDP spokesperson, said Monday that “we continue to ask all contestants to follow the leadership rules and for all donations to be processed through the party.”
The NDP committee that turned down Mr. Engler’s application cited multiple concerns about his potential candidacy. In a confidential e-mail to Mr. Engler, seen by The Globe, the committee accused him of echoing “Russian state propaganda with respect to the Russo-Ukrainian war and Nato.”
Mr. Engler, a former union researcher and author of 13 books, denied the claim, saying that on dozens of occasions, he has publicly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as illegal and brutal. But he and his wife have both criticized Canada’s increased investment in defence, as part of NATO.
The committee further alleged that Mr. Engler had intimidated party members and staff “by following people to their private accommodations and to private vehicles.” They also claimed he had disruptively confronted elected officials in public and private spaces, interrupting meetings, events and presentations. Mr. Engler, who fires questions at politicians and posts video of their responses on social media, denies having harassed or intimidated people.
NDP leadership candidates Rob Ashton, Tanille Johnston, Avi Lewis, Heather McPherson and Tony McQuail pose for a photo following the NDP French language leadership debate in Montreal on Nov. 27, 2025.Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press
In an interview Monday, Ms. Mugyenyi said she has a less confrontational style than her husband.
”I would say that Yves is more sort of direct and confrontational. And my style is very much an organizer, a facilitator, bringing people together. I think that’s why people in the campaign were interested in my leadership,” she said.
“I respect the way that Yves … is willing to challenge power directly. But we’re two different people. We have different leadership styles. But it’s the same platform that we’re putting forward.”
Describing herself as an eco-socialist, Ms. Mugyenyi, the former director of the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute, has since last July been overseeing her husband’s campaign. She said green issues, including tackling climate change, are a priority for her, and she wants Alberta’s oil sands production to be shut down, saying it is a major source of greenhouse gases.
Ms. Mugyenyi said foreign policy is a focus of her campaign, including criticism of Israel’s policies in Gaza and its treatment of the Palestinians.
The former Concordia student fled to Canada from Uganda as a child with her family but later returned there, where her mother, Mary, a former Ugandan MP, represents the country in the East African legislative assembly. Her late father, Joshua Mugyenyi, was formerly executive director of the Bank of Uganda.